Thanks to a new low-cost Icelandic airline, American vacationers dreaming of a summer vacation sipping wine in Tuscany or driving Iceland’s Diamond Circle will have easier access to cheap flights to Europe. Play, a low-cost carrier, will begin flying to Reykjavik from four US airports this year, with connections to 22 European cities. The new airline will launch its initial U.S. services in April, with Boston Logan following in May, Stewart International in New York’s Hudson Valley following in June, and Orlando following in October.
Destinations such as Paris, Berlin, Copenhagen, Dublin, London, Madrid, Barcelona, Gothenburg (Sweden), Bologna (Italy), and Tenerife are among Play’s European routes, all of which will connect through its base in Reykjavik (Canary Islands).
One-way promotional tickets have been as low as $109 and $129; in addition to the promotional discounts, June flights from New York-Stewart to Reykjavik are as low as $133 one way, and round-trip routes from New York-Stewart to London Stansted are now less than $450.
According to CEO Birgir Jónsson, Play is able to offer such low tickets in part because of its hub-and-spoke architecture, which helps the airline keep costs low. “Because this is not a direct flight, we are basically making sure that we are always one of the most current, cheapest options available,” Jónsson explains.
Icelandair, the new airline’s main competitor, has already announced a fare reduction in response to the shift in its home market, with summer trips from the United States to Europe starting at $399.
On board, what to expect
Play operates Airbus A320neo single-aisle aircraft with all-economy-class seats. According to industry website Simply Flying, the airline’s seats are a little more spacious than other low-cost carriers’, with 34 inches of seat pitch and fewer than 200 seats per plane.
“We just try to make people comfortable for the time that they are there, at the same time recognizing that no one actually wants to be on an aircraft,” According to Jónsson, “I mean, I always laugh a little bit when people begin to talk about these transformative customer experiences on an aircraft, which is fine if you’re, you know, Emirates or something. [But] we’re getting people from A to B in a safe manner, at a good price, at the right time.”
As it begins operations in U.S. markets this spring, the airline expects to expand its fleet from three to six planes. It intends to have a total of 15 Airbus A320neos and A321neos with a bright, cherry-red exterior by 2025, all of which will be brand-new jets straight off the assembly line.
Play’s low tickets are complemented with pay-as-you-go supplementary fees such as checked bags (beginning at $44 for a checked bag and $34 for a carry-on for U.S. flights) and seat assignments (between $6 and $48 for U.S. flights), similar to other budget airlines. Flights can also be customized to include a free layover in Iceland, which is a plus for visitors who want to visit the Land of Fire and Ice.
A company model that is adaptable
In June 2021, “Play” flew from Reykjavik to London Stansted for the first time. It wasn’t the only low-cost carrier to launch during the epidemic, which seemed illogical at the time but had several upsides. In 2021, Play’s passenger load factor (a crucial industry figure that shows how much of an airline’s passenger carrying capacity is used) was 53 percent, which was impressive given its startup stage and the industry average of 58 percent. Furthermore, Jónsson claims that the carrier’s excellent arrangements for its fleet of narrow-body Airbus jets provide it with a considerable competitive advantage. “Two or three years ago, you would never ever have been able to get those aircraft at all, let alone at the market prices that we’re getting,” Jónsson explained. “So we are locking in some lower costs and really good terms for the next
